BEIRUT: After a more than two-year political vacuum in Lebanon, the Lebanese army chief has been elected as the country’s president.
Several major political parties supported the Lebanon army chief Joseph Aoun’s candidacy for the ceremonial position, which is reserved for a Maronite Christian under a sectarian power-sharing arrangement.
On Wednesday, his rival lawmaker from Hezbollah and its Shi’ite ally the Amal Movement withdrew and backed the army chief.
Aoun’s campaign gained momentum on Wednesday after Suleiman Frangieh, who Hezbollah had supported for the previous two years, announced that the army chief had “the qualifications to preserve the position of the first presidency” and withdrew from the contest.
Aoun fell short of the 15 votes needed in a first-round vote but crossed the threshold with 99 votes in a second round to attain the two-thirds majority in the 128-seat parliament. Local media reported that 37 lawmakers reportedly from Hezbollah and its ally Amal cast blank ballots. While 20 ballots were declared invalid.
TV channels broadcast scenes of nationwide celebrations as soon as the outcome was revealed.
Later, Aoun was seen not in his army uniform but in a dark suit as he arrived at the parliament building. After inspecting the guards, he went into the chamber to take his oath.
Aoun announced Thursday that “a new phase in Lebanon’s history” had begun in a speech to parliament after his victory.
In violation of a UN Security Council resolution that put an end to their previous war, the 60-year-old promised to work during his six-year term to ensure that the Lebanese state had “the exclusive right to bear arms”—a reference to Hezbollah, which had developed a force deemed more potent than the army to oppose Israel.
He said that after assuming the charge, the priority will be to repair the damage suffered by “Israeli aggression” in southern Lebanon, the southern suburbs of Beirut, and the eastern Bekaa Valley during the war—which the World Bank estimates will cost $8.5 billion (£6.9 billion).
In a nation that has seen numerous crises, he also pledged to advance the political and economic reforms that are generally regarded as essential.
